


Once acquired, twice in love

by kromatus



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I'm sorry I don't know how to tag this one, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, prosthetic upgrade, soft touches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-17 21:29:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21700114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kromatus/pseuds/kromatus
Summary: Mercy gives Genji an upgrade.
Relationships: Genji Shimada/Angela "Mercy" Ziegler
Comments: 4
Kudos: 60





	Once acquired, twice in love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tamagoyakiis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tamagoyakiis/gifts), [smoltinny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/smoltinny/gifts).



> My first Overwatch fic, and it's for my favorite ship. This is some of the softest work I've ever written.

His eyes glazed over, as much as cybernetic eyes  _ can _ glaze over, the more Gabriel talked about the upcoming mission. The main agents of Blackwatch huddled around a table, each holding their head in their hands, half asleep, or already asleep with their feet on the table. Genji’s eyes glided over to find a gently snoring Jesse McCree, and then over a Moira O’Deorain, who seemed to be more interested in the files in front of her than the slides clicking to the next on the projector screen.

There was nothing extremely out of the ordinary for a Blackwatch mission, not even in the one Gabriel drawled on about. Genji tapped his android fingers on the table, drumming a quiet beat. He’d rather be anywhere than here, but mostly he wanted to be in the gym or the simulation room training. Or sleeping. Or just anything at this point. But the more he sat, the more energy built up inside him that he needed to release.

A bright and cheery tone broke the monotonous voice of Gabriel, only to be his own cell phone. A few of the agents who didn’t spend as much time with the leader of their division sniggered, but Genji knew better. He’d heard the tone on more than one occasion, and it was a special alert just for members of Overwatch he didn’t particularly hate. Gabriel had an odd way of showing his affection for those who didn’t do him wrong.

“Oh, shut up,” Jesse groaned, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose before rubbing over his eyes and up over his forehead.

“Hello?” Gabriel grunted into the phone, his brow furrowing. “We’re kind of busy, Angela… Right, right… Alright, after the briefing I’ll do that… Yeah, yeah, alright thanks.” He ended the call with a tap to the END CALL button.

_ Dr. Ziegler? What could she need from him? _ Genji thought to himself. The drumming stopped, followed by the thud of Jesse’s feet hitting the floor as he straightened himself back out.

“I hope that nap was worth it, Jesse, since you missed almost the entire briefing and wasted all our time,” Gabriel scolded the scruffy young man who tipped his large cowboy hat back at the commander.

“It was a great one. Thanks, Gabe.”

“Reyes,” Gabriel corrected with a lilt of annoyance.

“Ah, shucks, Gabe. Ain’t we close enough now?” Jesse’s drawl flowed from his mouth and over the table, giving the others in the meeting another chuckle.

Gabriel’s mouth tightened into a hard line as he pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling before rubbing his eyes and up and over his forehead, the same motion Jesse had done upon waking.  _ Like teacher like student _ , Genji thought, amused by his noticing the two sharing the similar habit, most likely something Jesse picked up from all the time he’s spent with Gabriel on missions prior to Genji’s joining. Or, being picked up, he supposed. He didn’t really join as willingly as other agents in the room. But he also guessed that Jesse was not the same, from what he was told. Jesse wasn’t given much of a choice, but took to Overwatch and Blackwatch work quickly, and looked up to Gabriel like a father figure he so lacked.

“Whatever. This meeting is over, anyway. Genji,” Gabriel spoke, standing up and gathering the papers and folders, followed suit by the other agents standing and taking their leave.

“Yes?”

“Go see Angela. Says she has something for you. Head to the training area after. We’re going to work on stealth more today.”

“Is that a jab at me?” Jesse questioned, standing himself, “Is it ‘cause of my spurs?”

“You think?” Gabriel tapped Jesse’s hat with the folder.

The two continued their squabble, leaving the room and leaving Genji the last one. He thought about the possibilities of what Dr. Ziegler could have for him in her office. It’s most likely some medical thing she needed him for.

So with a sigh, the cyborg man left the room and traversed through the building until he came to the door of Dr. Angela “Mercy” Ziegler.

He gently tapped his cyborg knuckles on the door. Barely above a whisper, he announced himself, “Dr. Ziegler? It’s Genji.”

“Oh, Genji!” her angelic voice sang behind the door, “Come on in!”

The knob turned easily in his hand, as did the door as he pushed it in. Standing at her desk, Angela’s blonde hair fell over her shoulder, surprisingly not in her signature ponytail or bun. Even not in her Valkyrie attire, she seemed to glow with angelic beauty, a permanent halo resting above her crown in his eyes.

And who could blame him? This is the doctor who saved his life, and who spent so long talking with him and easing his soul, helping him feel human again despite his appearance. It wouldn’t be too farfetched to say he cared for her more than anyone else in the building.

Many times before missions, he contemplates telling her his feelings, just in case it’s the last mission he goes on. But everytime he decides against it. She may be everything to him, but to her, he might just be a patient. A hamster. But she never viewed him as so below her that he was a test rat, like the way Dr. O’Deorain looked at him or Gabriel.

“Go ahead and get up on the table, Genji, I’ll be ready in...just...a minute…” she trailed off, speaking more to herself as she continued to type on the computer in front of her, bent over and hiding her face into the monitor.

Genji followed her orders, his eyes coming back to rest on her form, following down her back until they paused on the supple form of her ass shaped perfectly in her pants, fabric pulled tight the further she leaned in. A hot blush settled over his cheeks before he averted his gaze with a cough.

“Isn’t it bad for your eyes to be so close to a screen like that?” the cyborg man asked, now looking over the various diagrams and charts covering the walls of her office.

“Hm?” she hummed in response, “Oh! Of course!” A soft chuckle danced from her lips to his ears and melted him inside. “Thank you for looking out for me, Genji.”

“R-right…” he muttered, his lower face plate luckily hiding the way he pursed his lips the more he blushed and the harder he tried to will it away before she came over to him.

“Okay! I’m finally done with that. Now,” she twirled to face him, clapping her hands in front of her, “let me get what I called you in for!” 

She trotted across the room, her heels clacking on the tile floor, but she really looked to be floating or gliding over the floor. She didn’t have her wings on, but it never stopped Genji from believing she was actually capable of flight, or at least floating to where she needed to be.

“And what’s that?” Genji inquired, folding his hands into his lap.

Again she bent over, reaching into a large box. And once again, Genji averted his gaze to keep another blush from infiltrating his face.

With a grunt, she stood straight and twirled again, holding in her arms… an arm.

“What is that?” Genji asked incredulously.

“It’s a new prosthetic I designed. It’s currently in the patent pending process, but they sent me the first model. It’s for you.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, “What’s so special about it?”

“Well,” she floated to him, “Why don’t we install it and see?”

“Forgive me, Dr. Ziegler, if I’m not jumping for joy at the pain of removing and reinstalling an arm without knowing what it can do that’s different from my current one.”

“You’re forgiven,” she chirped, setting the new prosthetic on the table next to him, “but can you not trust me, Genji? Don’t you think I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think it was good for you?”

“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to say?”

The woman rolled her eyes with a huff, “Genji,” she looked at him sternly, “trust me. Please?”

Her pleas tugged at him inside. The pain of removing his arm was beyond excruciating, and has only had to happen one time, when he got it crushed and made it completely unusable. Although he couldn’t feel the damage itself to the arm, the removal and reinstallation of the new one wracked his body with pain that shot through his shoulder and into the pit of his stomach, causing him to retch.

Genji sighed, reaching up and running a hand through his black hair, growing longer and thicker the less he worried about his appearance now. “Fine. There’s no saying ‘no’ to you, anyway.”

“Wonderful! I’ll try to make it as painless as possible for you. I really think you’ll like this upgrade, though, Genji. I worked hard on this for you.”

His heart sped up at her words. She somehow always had a way to make him feel important and cared for. 

Deft fingers worked quickly at first disconnecting all the connections from the android arm to his body, trying to first take away any sensation of pain he could feel. Little sparks of static and jolts of prickling pain coursed through his body with each disconnection, but so far the process had been easy. Much easier compared to when he arrived with it falling apart and in pieces.

Slowly, he lost the ability to control his fingers, then his wrist, and soon his elbow. He had never really been without an arm, even if it was cybernetic, for very long. Angela had worked quickly to give him his body when he arrived a bloody mess. But the loss of control still scared him.

“Okay,” she muttered, her brow furrowing, “are you ready?”

The removal of the arm was the most painful part of it all. Squeezing his other hand, he gave her a quick nod and braced himself for the pain he was going to receive. Angela counted down from three and then pulled with all her might. Waves of pain crashed through him like a tumultuous storm. He wanted badly to scream, to run, to kill what caused him this pain. Fingernails dug into his palm, drawing little droplets of blood pooling in the crevices of his fingers.

Without time to focus on the pain, Angela quickly put the discarded arm aside and took the new one and lined it up and thrust it into the shoulder socket, sending more waves of pain through the ninja on her table.

Over and over she whispered “Sorry”, pushing harder until it clicked into place. Relief fell over both of them with the new prosthetic secured, taking a moment to breath.

“This better be worth it, Dr. Ziegler…” Genji groaned, his voice strained and cracking.

“I think you’ll find it completely worth it,” she chirped, wiping away the sweat on her brow. “Now,” she clapped her hands in front of her once more, “shall we get back to work?”

Another nod and wiping away his own sweat. Genji let his mind blank while she worked, reconnecting all the correct things to give him control of the arm once more. He could feel the gradual control over the arm once more, starting in the shoulder, and moving down each minute she worked. But, it also felt new. There was a weird sensation of a distant static tingling through the arm and into his back.

“Dr. Ziegler, what is this?” Genji asked, flexing his fingers.

With the  _ click _ of the final connection, Angela stood back and gave Genji a soft smile. “Time to begin the testing.”

“Testing?”

With no hesitation, Angela reached forward slowly and brushed over his shoulder and down his arm with her fingertips.

Immediately his arm felt like it was on fire. He could feel every little touch she made, the little heat behind the pads of her fingers, and the trailing of her nails over every dip and curve of the arm. His eyes couldn’t be ripped away from the sight even if he tried.

“What...what is this?” the man asked, voice shaking.

But Angela only chuckled, still running her hand over his arm, her fingertips tracing the lines and grooves in his hand and fingers. She reached her other hand to his other arm, mimicking the movements.

“Do they feel the same?” she asked, doing a gesture on one arm, then the other.

The sensations on both arms  _ did _ feel mostly the same. There was a slight delay in sensation on the prosthetic arm, but he didn’t care. He could  _ feel _ touch again. He could feel the heat, and cold, and wind, and texture again. He thought it would be lost to that side of him forever, but it had returned in the hands of a beautiful angel.

“They… they feel the same…” he responded, trying hard to keep himself together, but he could not stop the single tear that fell down his cheek. “Dr. Ziegler, how did you do this?”

“Many, many hours,” her voice trailed away like a warm breeze, “Once the patent is processed, I’ll be able to have it made for all of your cybernetic parts.”

“All...of me?” he finally raised his eyes to her after watching the way her lithe fingers danced across his arms.

“All of you.”

“Dr. Ziegler… I don’t know what to say. I could never say enough thank yous for all you have done for me.”

“I… may have a way, if you’d be willing.” 

With her own words, a light blush dusted across her cheeks and nose, her lips still curved in a smile.

“Anything,” he responded, if a little too quickly, leaning forward, “just say it.”

Gently, she took his prosthetic wrist in her hand and raised it up, reaching her fingers over his palm to flatten his hand before bringing it to her cheek. Warmth spread over his hand as she leaned into his touch, into the palm of his hand, and sighed. 

Warm. She was so warm. And so soft. He never doubted that she would be, but he spent so long imagining the way her skin felt, and the way she’d feel in his hold. Faster and faster his heart beat. He wondered if it would explode when she looked up at him from her resting place, her blue eyes shimmering. 

Hesitantly, he rested his thumb on the corner of her lips, tracing the outline of her lower lip before coming back to the corner and over her cheek. Another sigh, and her expression softened further, shutting her eyes and enjoying the way he felt.

Her other fingers continued to dance against his other wrist, begging him to release the grip he still had and the nails seemingly stuck in his palm. Reluctantly, he released the hold he had on himself, and she repeated the motion of bringing his hand to her face.

“Dr. Ziegler, the blood…” he tried to warn, but she pressed his hand against the other side of her face, along her jaw, regardless.

“It doesn’t bother me. This is worth it.”

And like this they stayed, enjoying the way the other felt. The electrifying feel of skin to skin, of skin to metal. But he was never cold. Her own fingers rubbed and caressed over the hands gently holding her face. And all the pain was worth it.

“Is this what you wanted, Dr. Ziegler?” Genji finally asked, “I would… I would be happy to do this for no exchange…”

“It’s not all of what I want, but it’s a start,” she leaned further into his prosthetic hand, rotating so her lips brushed against his thumb and palm. “Genji?”

“Yes, Dr. Ziegler?”

“Can you call me Angela?”

He hesitated. Never had he hesitated as much as he did with her. He knew, deep inside himself, that she wasn’t weak, that she wasn’t fragile. He watched how she fought, how she healed, how hard she worked — fueled only by the coffee she brewed almost 24 hours a day to keep her going.

“Is that what you want?”

“It’s another part.”

He smiled behind the face plate, “I think I can do that… Angela…”

The hum of his voice, the robotic lilt to it, set her on fire. Often she dreamed of the day he would feel comfortable enough to call her by her name. And it was said with a sweetness and kindness she could get drunk off of.

“Genji?”

“Yes, Angela?”

Another tug at both of their lips, pulling their smiles enough to cause their eyes to squint. Slowly she slid her hands down from his and over his forearms. Withdrawing them, she reached for the faceplate, her fingers tracing the curves of it until they found the latches on the side, releasing them and pulling the plate away. The once hidden away scarred lips fell, parted. 

“What are you doing?”

Her thumbs followed the lines and curves of the scars over his face, her eyes scanning over every inch.

“You’re healing nicely,” she hummed, still smiling.

“O-of course. I follow all the steps you told me.”

Over and over she caressed his face. The panic he felt ebbed away, his heart calming down and his eyes still stuck on hers.

“Genji?” she asked again, her own voice wavering slightly.

“Angela,” he hummed back, running his thumb over her cheek again.

Without response, Angela pushed forward, trying hard to close the distance between them. Genji held onto her face a bit tighter, restricting her movement while pulling himself back.

“Do…” Angela held still, holding her breath, “do you not want to kiss me?”

“Do you want to kiss me?” he asked back.

“I think that’s obvious.”

“No, Angela. Do you  _ want _ to kiss me?” he asked again, “Or do you only want to do it because you think I want you to?”

“Do you really think I’d kiss you just because you wanted it?”

“I’m not sure,” his voice distant, “I’m starting to get used to pity.”

Her lips tightened, her brows furrow, as she chose her words. “I’m offended you think so little of me that you think I’d pity you.”

“Angela, I couldn’t think any higher of you!”

“Don’t belittle me then put me on a pedestal, Genji. We’re adults. We can talk about how we feel and what we think.”

He sighed, defeated. So quickly he had built walls around himself that he forgot that there were instances and people he wants to climb over them or break them down. 

“You’re right,” he conceded, dropping his strength from keeping her back.

“Genji,” she pushed forward again, slower this time, “we have spent hours upon hours together, fighting, working—”

“Rebuilding me.”

“Don’t interrupt me,” she squeezed his jaw between her hands. “Now, back to what I was saying. Genji, with all this time between us, I have learned so much; about you, about life, and about what’s important to me and important for Overwatch, Blackwatch, and the world. I think about you often, and I worry constantly when you’re gone.

“I love you, Genji,” Angela finally admitted, “And I want to kiss you because it’s what  _ I _ want to do. And it would make me happy if you wanted to kiss me, too.”

It was then he felt his heart burst into a million fireworks. He pulled her in, meeting her lips with his own. And for the moment, he didn’t care if he wasn't fully human anymore. He didn’t think about the scars and burns littered across his skin, he didn’t care anymore about the way people looked at him or pitied him. All he cared about, all he could think about was how happy he was to hear those words from her, and to feel her soft lips against his, the warm skin in his hands.

And he loved her, too. He loved her wholeheartedly. A year ago, he couldn’t tell you what love was. A year ago, he’d laugh at the thought of spending his life with a single person, protecting them, caring for them, living for them and life together. But with her in his hands, in his hold, and in his heart, he felt whole, and he felt more human than he ever had in his life.

He pulled himself away, their lips still barely touching.

“I love you, Angela,” he whispered into her as she breathed life into him.

“I love you,” they whispered together, the sparks between them lighting them up from the inside out.


End file.
